Otherwise, the cartels could be expanding their operations as most successful businesses tend to do. Control of transportation networks, especially ports, is critical for business because maritime shipping accounts for the majority of illegal trade worldwide.

The significance for Guatemala is notable. The Central American country has long been a transit corridor for cocaine from South America into Mexico, but it is now becoming a drug producer — even if all the precursor chemicals found there are not immediately contributing to the drug trade. Without U.S. or Mexican assistance, the Guatemalan government will be unable to control any increased production of methamphetamine — or the violence, corruption and increased use that will accompany it.